NOTE: THIS MSG WILL BE MANDATORY READING PERIODICALLY. IF THE FORUM WOULDN'T LET YOU CONTINUE UNTIL YOU READ THIS - IT'S *NOT JUST YOU* THAT WAS USHERED HERE FIRST, IT WAS ALL USERS. (it will probably be a mandatory a few times a year)

Welcome to the first web site established for the Niagara IceDogs OHL hockey team! (yep - we were up even before the team's site! )

SITE MODERATOR: 61jr, NiceDawg

This forum is for everyone to enjoy, but it is a PRIVATE forum and therefore NOT everything-goes. The forum is open to all, but in order to ensure the smooth flowing and longevity of this forum, certain etiquette must be followed.

CODE OF CONDUCT (revised: Dec. 10, 2015)

1) NO talking about forum policy in public msgs. This includes the questioning of a moderator's actions. Use PMs (private msgs)2) No hacking/flaming/insulting other users. Negative comments about other users will not be tolerated.3) No harsh profanity (harmless swears are 'tolerated') DO NOT disguise profanity with other letters/symbols.4) No posting of email addresses without the email-owner's KNOWN use of it.5) Do not mail Alphadog (administrator) about problems - PM a mod about them please.6) DO email Alphadog if you have an account/technical problem.7) If you post copyrighted material (news articles) you *must* post the source at the top.8) Posting any spam will result in immediate removal of account.9) Have a problem someone? PM THEM about it, do NOT POST PUBLICLY about it. Yes, there *is* a reason for this.10) If you disagree with someone's point of view, argue back with FACTS. Don't make bad comments about someone's post just because he/her posted his/her opinion. Use the reputation icon and give them negative rep. if you feel their remarks were tasteless but do not people what they shouldn't be posting - that's the moderators job. Tell a moderator if something goes unnoticed. IF you don't like what someone is saying, argue back with FACTS. Don't insult them for posting what they posted - argue back with facts.11) Signatures: 2 lines or less (no ads)12) Do not post a new thread about a topic that has been locked. If a thread has been locked, there's a reason for it.13) Moderator comments in messages will be marked in red text as of posts later than Aug.4/0914) Re: Posting rumors - this is fine, but you MUST post the source of your information. You CAN post the rumor without
naming the source, but if you do so you agree to an account suspension if the rumor proves to be false. This is to
deter people from posting things they're unsure about. Rumors often create an uproar so we need people to be sure
about them before spreading them.15) As with most other forums, signing up with multiple accounts is not allowed, and will result in both accounts being removed.16) You are legally responsible for the content of your posted messages including replies that repeat the content of another person. Posts advocating criminal acts or containing libelous statements will not be tolerated. Anyone posting content that could land the site and/or its operators in legal trouble will be subject to removal.17) most important: please respect these rules. I have put in countless hours and dollars to bring this to you, and am happy to continue to do so if it's a happy experience for me. Any personal insults towards myself or the staff her will simply result in a ban. This is run all out of my pocket. And please respect the moderators - they do their job voluntarily and they're here to help.
Not adhearing to code of conduct will result in either an email from the staff about it, a temporary account ban, or even a permanent ban. If you're given a warning or a temp. ban about something, don't take it personal. It's not because the staff doesn't LIKE you, it's because they DON'T like one or more of your posts.

Sounds strict, yes, but it will result in a better forum for the majority. Last year we (I) let to much happen with not enough enforcement, and the result was 1: Me almost taking the forum down completely, and 2: everyone else having a bad time. AT TIMES that is. 95% of the time this was the best place to be when you weren't at a game. But the times when one or two users were misbehaving, it just made it bad for everyone.
The reason this code of conduct was condensed down, is that in the previous version I tried to explain my reasoning for everything, and that just let people to see too much text on their screen and ignore the rules altogether. Now it's short and sweet, easy to follow. Not knowing the rules will not be accepted as an excuse for bad behavior

[this has been explained 10+ times already, but I'm going to paste the last time I explained it into a sticky message, so hopefully someone won't ask "why" in the future (yah right - I give it a month)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuey Griffin

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A few things to note... It's 7th MAN people, not sixth! You already have six players on the ice.

Do we really have to go through this for the 20th time? Please read old posts on here and do a search - this has been explained OVER AND OVER again.

When there's 1 man in the box, do YOU say it's 5-on-4 or 6-on-5 ?

When there's 2 men in the box, do you say it's a 6-on-4 power play or a 5-on-3 power play?

In overtime, when there's 1 less skater, do you say it's 5-on-5 or 4-on-4 overtime ?

Posting articles welcome - they're a GREAT conversation starter, not to mention a great source of information as well.

But you MUST post the source of the article at the top of the msg, and please also copy/paste the URL (link) to it at the top.

If the article has advertising graphics and/or text in it, please also include that so that their advertisers get more exposure.

Unfortunately, any articles that are posted without this criteria, must be removed. It's nothing personal (please don't take it that way!) but it's very important that the source and link get pasted above the article itself.

Straight from The Standard (and I assume other papers/online publications are similar) :

Quote:

Stories and photos from The Standard are copyrighted and cannot be posted online without permission. If people want to post an article, they must contact Sun Media's News Research Dept. at 416-947-3123 for permission and pay a fee for use of the story or photo.
Linking to a story is fine, and there is no cost. Your fans could give a brief description of what the story is about and then post the URL link to The Standard. We cannot guarantee how long the link will remain active, but generally it is for a considerable period.

So PLEASE KEEP POSTING ARTICLES but post maybe just the first paragraph, then a LINK to the article on the other web site.

I know this sucks - I rarely click the link, read the article, then come back and comment. It's so much more convenient to have the article right in front of you in a msg, with the Reply button right there in front of you. But, that's the rules from The Standard, so we need to abide by them. Any new articles posted in their entirety (or close to it), sadly will have to be removed.

And as I explained to someone else in a private message, the main reason I like having the articles in their entirety is because it because of dead links. External sites can move their files around, delete content, etc.. and the link is still on here pointing to it. But luckily, most articles people talk about here are about recent things - people rarely go back and read old messages of old news articles.

Trolling has been around since mass internet communication was first established. Due to its anonymous nature people feel empowered to hide behind their computer screens and disrupt the usual purpose of a forum by make a deliberately offensive, or provocative, or purposefully annoying online posts. They do this with the aim of upsetting someone, eliciting an angry response from them or causing an unknowing user to provide a needless lengthy explanation about a topic.

People troll because they have an exaggerated sense of their own importance or like to tear down what others are trying to build up. The true troll wants to be fed. He wants the disruption, the argument, or to cry out that he is being persecuted. Feeding a troll only prolongs their stay. The trouble is sometimes a new user can be mistaken for a troll simply by virtue of their na´ve questions or unfamiliarity with the rules of the forum.

So what can be done? If someone is breaking one of the rules of the forum, report their post to a moderator through a private message. Bear in mind we have lives as well and may not respond immediately so have patience. Secondly, if you object to a particular post (not a user, just their post), consider using the "Reputation" button on the bar above their post. This button resembles a check-mark and letter "X" together and while it normally allows you to reward a great post, it can also be used to denounce a bad one. If you recognize a troll appears to have found an unsuspecting victim, please send them a private message and encourage them to stop feeding the troll. Do not call a user a troll or publish a generic message about feeding trolls as even these methods in effect disrupt the forum and feed the troll. Punish a troll with your silence and the tools the forum offers.

A moderator can give an infraction for a violation of a forum rule, can delete an offending post, or they can edit out the offending portion of an otherwise legitimate message. Based on the seriousness of the infraction or the number of negative reputation points a user obtains, their access to the forum can be suspended or a ban can be imposed.

The combination of member input and timely moderation will help to deter trolling.

In order to maintain a functioning Forum, rules were established and agreed to by each member upon joining. From time to time an exceedingly small portion of the population violate a rule. In most cases, a friendly private reminder from a moderator is all that is required to get things back on track. Other times the intervention needs to be more formal.

The site utilizes a series of warnings or points to formally document rule violations. Not unlike a trip to the penalty box, when a number of points have been accumulated a period of suspension is imposed.

Most minor offences carry one point and expire in one to six months. More serious offences may have one or two points and do not expire. The points are cumulative but if a user was able to demonstrate continued good behaviour they could be removed on appeal.